


rings with colors of the morning sun

by emeraldpalace



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: M/M, Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Spoilers for Kingdom Hearts III
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-10-28 11:29:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17786525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emeraldpalace/pseuds/emeraldpalace
Summary: Isa wakes up. Lea isn't there, but perhaps a new friend is.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kh3 made me write after a whole year of barely doing so, so I guess that's an achievement?
> 
> the title comes from the lyrics of chikai/oath/don't think twice in japanese
> 
> isa and ienzo are both my babies so i wanted them to interact

The first thing he hears is a sort of rustling. It’s short, not too close or startling, so he’s not even sure if he properly heard it all, until, somewhere between a few moments and a while later, he hears the same rustling again. He listens for it to no avail, but he notices another sound, some type of chirping, much more distant and faint than the rustling, but all the poignant in its familiarity. 

Familiar. It’s familiar, he knows it, it’s right there,  _ what is it _ -

Someone clears their throat lightly. Which means someone is the same room with him. He’s in a room, with someone else, he’s lying on something soft, a bed, it must be a bed, and he’s covered by some type of heavy blanket, there’s the rustling again, which sounds like pages in a book, then there’s clinging and grunting as he gets struck by a red hot keyblade,  _ See you,—  _

“Isa? Can you hear me?”

He suddenly finds himself sitting up, looking at a light blue eye and a large dark fringe.

“You’re…” A name lies on the tip of his tongue, but it’s not the right one, not anymore, he knows as much.

“...not Zexion.”

Not-Zexion chuckles, a truly strange sound, since he somewhat knows that voice, but he knows it never used to produce such sounds, not in the previous life, or the one before.

“Yes, my name is Ienzo. Do you know yours?”

“Isa”, he replies. And if he’s Isa that must mean-

“Where’s Lea?”

“Lea is fine. He is probably patrolling the worlds with the other keybearers at the moment. How do you feel?”

A wave of relief washes over him. He knew Lea was alright after their battle, but had still worried about what could have happened afterwards.

But Lea is alive. Lea is alive and  _ fine,  _ and so is Isa, so perhaps the two of them would also finally be alright-

“Isa? Are you still with me?”

He gets shaken out of his thoughts again, only now realizing that there’s a warm wetness flowing down his cheeks. He curses, sudden  _ shame _ washing over him, causing another wave of tears, when he sees Ienzo reach into his lab coat and reach for a handkerchief. Isa accepts it and sees the other look away before he holds the fabric to his face for a few moments. He tries to steady his breathing, to concentrate on his body rather his mind overflowing with images of Lea, memories of them eating ice cream on the square, intermingled with their last encounters, talking to him on the clock tower, pretending for a little while like all is well, before looking up at him as he felt himself fade away yet again.

He takes a deep yet still shaky breath once he’s calmed down again, wiping away the last remnants of his outburst.

“Feeling better?”, Ienzo quietly asks.

“...Yes. I’m just-” He breaks off, for one part because he’s not quite sure how to word it, too many thoughts, sensations,  _ feelings  _ still occupying his mind all at once, for the other because of the way his voice sounds, so uncharacteristically broken and frail. It’s uncomfortable, especially in the presence of a near-stranger, even if they seem to mean well.

“Overwhelmed?”, Ienzo suggests.

He clears his throat. “Yes.”

“That’s perfectly normal. We’ve all felt that way with our new hearts.” 

Right. That’s all it really is. He forcibly suppresses another wave of emotions, even if it is what he’s longed for all this time -  a new heart, along with a new chance at normalcy, a chance at a life, for the first time in over a decade. He’s happy, of course he is, but at the same time it’s pathetic how much he really wanted it when Saix had spend his entire existence telling himself how getting a heart is an objective goal he’s working towards, not an emotional little _longing_ __ that he’s aimlessly chasing like a little boy. And yet, these feelings are nothing new, they're simply amplified by his new heart-  Or perhaps they’re just not hindered by the notion of heartlessness anymore.

He suddenly realizes that he still holds the damp handkerchief in his hand, and tries to return it to Ienzo, but the other waves him off.

“Keep it. Just in case,” he adds with a gentle smile.

Even if Isa feels pathetic at best, Ienzo seems to deem him fit enough to sit by himself as he stands up to reach a glass of water on a table in the corner of the room. A book also lies on that table, probably rustling he heard earlier, along with a bowl of fruits. Isa accepts the glass with a grateful nod.

“Do you feel anything else?”, Ienzo asks as he drinks. “Any pain, discomfort?”

He thinks for a moment, feels the soreness in his muscles, still with the unfamiliar loud buzzing in his head. “...I feel tired. Disoriented.”

“Do you feel dizzy?”

“No, just… mentally disoriented.”

“Ah, I see. Well, you’re currently in the castle in Radiant Garden. You appeared here around three weeks ago and have been unconscious ever since.”

“That’s… a long time.”

“Well, Even took nearly a month to wake up, so you should be fine,” Ienzo says with a good-natured smile, which still looks… odd, to say the least. Ansem’s youngest apprentice had always been a mystery to them, _ “like one of those creepy ghost children from horror stories” _ , as Lea used to say, and the most emotion Zexion ever showed were mocking smirks when he proved someone’s point wrong. The cognitive dissonance is giving him a headache, especially when he thinks about how the other apprentices must also be around here somewhere, probably none too pleased to have him encroach on their home.

“Could you leave me alone or a while?”

“Oh,” Ienzo says and Isa almost regrets being so direct.

“Of course,” he stands up and goes to pick up his book from the table, then turns to Isa one last time.

“I would come back in a few hours with dinner, if that is alright with you?”

He nods. “Sure.”

“Of course you’re free to walk around the castle by yourself, but you should abstain from any strenuous activities, especially if you’re feeling… emotional. Some of us have fainted within our first few days after recompletion.”

He nods again, expecting Ienzo to walk away, but the man lingers, hesitating for a moment.

“And...it would be best if you didn’t go outside of the castle territory for the time being.”

Isa frowns.“...Why is that?”

Ienzo looks away uncomfortably. “We… have promised to keep you at the castle, until the Restoration Committee has a chance to interrogate you.”

“...I see.”

And he does. It would be foolish to think that he would simply be welcomed back with open arms in this world as if he didn’t personally bring Heartless and Nobodies into this world to test Sora not even two years ago, when it had already gone through so much. Not to mention that his joining of the real Organization probably didn’t put him in the most flattering light either, even if his intentions were good.

“Though I wouldn’t worry if I were you,” Ienzo adds. “If they can… tolerate us, who plunged this world into darkness in the first place, then I’m sure you have nothing to fear.”

He hums in reply. Ienzo takes it as his cue to leave, but somehow that feels wrong, incomplete - so he coughs. Smoothly.

“Yes?”, Ienzo says.

He looks away. “I… Thank you. For everything.”

When he looks back Ienzo is smiling at him yet again, lightly, but still in a genuinely kind way that is strange but, he realizes now, not unwelcome.

“No problem,” Ienzo replies. “I’ll see you later.”

“See you,” Isa says, right before he hears the sound of a door closing.

He falls back into the pillows with a shameless, exhausted groan. Equally shamelessly, he also decides that he doesn’t want to think or feel anymore for the time being, much less get up again, so he passes out within moments, warmth and red on his mind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter mentions, and future chapters will mention, things from the secret reports of kh3, so it would be advised to read those, or at least know their content more or less. i swear i'm not making up That much.

The room is noticeably more orange when Isa wakes up, just as he is noticeably less tired, and also noticeably less... emotional. Maybe what Lea always said about naps improving quality of life has some merit to it after all.

The first thing he does after getting up is look out of the castle window, just to confirm that yes, he truly is back in Radiant Garden. Even if he didn’t really have any doubts about it before, it is yet another thing thing to see his childhood home bathed in the all too familiar sunset once again. Sure, there are pipes and broken walls sticking out like sore thumbs out of the silhouette that used to be nothing but pristine elegant stone, but the colour of the purple-white buildings in the contrasting warm glow of sunset is a small comfort in and of itself.

He abandons the view after a while to go to the bathroom, for a hot shower seems to be what his sleep-sore body desires the most.

It’s strange how… normal it feels. Waking up, going about his routine, even if in an unfamiliar environment, doesn’t feel all that different now that he’s complete again. The mirror still shows the same image, the same body and scars, apart from the green replacing the gold in his eyes.   
A part of him had slightly hoped that the scar on his face would disappear just like Lea’s marks, but it’s more resignation than disappointment when that is evidently not the case. After all, the tattoos were Axel’s doing, but it was Isa who had been scarred on the day that Radiant Garden fell.

Once his hygiene has been taken care of, it is the void in his stomach that demands attention next. He remembers the fruit bowl on the table but already knows that it won’t be enough - and that he’s craving something more savory anyway. Ienzo said he would be back with dinner, but Isa had no real way of knowing when that would be.

He readies a dark portal before dressing himself in clothes that are slightly more loose than he’s used to, wondering which of the former (current?) guards they were taken from, when he’s overcome with a sudden, primal sense of dread.

The dark portal stands just a step away from him as it always has, the shadows around it moving slowly as they have always done, but Isa had never before perceived it to be so menacing, so… dark. Maybe if he had a dark cloak, he thinks - but no. Spurred on by his heart’s pure survival instinct, he closes the portal, and watches the spot where it was warily. For a few moments he thinks the darkness might disobey him, might come back to take his heart for a third time just like he deserves, but both his surroundings, and the dark powers within him, stay unnervingly still and quiet.

He finishes getting dressed and walks out of the room as soon as he can.

For several minutes he simply walks down the hallway to get away from his room, but by the time he sees the third staircase on his path he thinks he might as well go down and try and find the kitchens or the dining hall, the locations of which he vaguely remembers from his short time as an apprentice. There’s no guarantee that this castle is exactly the same as the one a decade prior, but it’s just about the only hint he has.

And so he travels down the stairs until the windows tell him that he’s somewhere around the castle’s ground level, but not before he hears the sound of footsteps coming from even further below him.

Ansem the Wise looks barely a day older than when Isa saw him on his first day as an apprentice, but the genuine surprise on his face upon seeing him is new all the same.

“Isa!”, he says as he hurries up the last steps to clasp a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s good to finally see you awake.”

“It’s good to be awake… Your Majesty.”

The older man blinks at him before laughing lightly.

“There’s no need to be so formal, my boy,” he says with another pat on Isa’s shoulder. “I haven’t been anyone’s king for a long time,” he adds just a little wistfully, at which Isa truly doesn’t know what to reply.

“Well, never mind,” Ansem waves a dismissive hand, “What brings you here?”

“...I was looking for the kitchens.”

“Ah,” the man smiles knowingly. “Of course, a strong young man like you must be famished at this point. Please, do follow me.”

Isa thanks him, but he still feels uncertain about the whole encounter, following a safe pace behind him. He knows that Vexen had contact to Ansem when he was trying to deliver replicas to Radiant Garden, but would that extend to speaking to Isa with such familiarity when they’ve barely interacted even before the fall? Has Isa simply forgotten that it’s a sign of human decency to treat near-strangers with kindness?

“How do you feel?,” Ansem suddenly asks.

“Fine, I think.”

“Are you certain?”

Isa hesitates. “...Yes. It’s simply unfamiliar to be back here, I suppose.”

“Ah, quite understandable. I know all too well how it feels to readjust to being home again.”

Ansem  _ would _ know, Isa thinks, remembering that the man had been banished to the Realm of Darkness by his own apprentices, not even able visit the shell that was Hollow Bastion as Saix and Axel had done occasionally in their first years as nobodies. He’s not sure whether it was a better or worse fate than losing your heart and spending most of your youth serving a malicious puppeteer, so he decides it’s best not to mention it at all.

They walk through the castle in silence, and Isa tries to both remember and familiarize himself with the hallways and staircases that spark his memories of his short, if still striking time here. He and Lea hadn’t been allowed into most places, spending their time mainly running errands or studying in the library, but it had still left an impression on him, living and working in the middle of Radiant Garden’s development center, not just sneaking in through a loose bush at night just to see - Right, to visit -

“I have a question.”

Ansem turns to him with surprise.

“Yes?”

He asks about the mysterious girl from the dungeon, tells him how he and Lea had met her until she disappeared without a trace, if he knew anything about her whereabouts - but the look Ansem gives him at the end of his tale is just one full of sorrow, of regret - or at least Isa would like to pretend that it's something other than pity.

“I am deeply sorry, Isa, but I’m afraid I know no more than you or Lea. As I’ve already explained to him, I ordered the release of all the captives once I found out about the experiments that my apprentices - that Xehanort was putting them through. I wouldn’t know about her origins or where she would go after her release. However, I do believe that there might be some old records of her, though you would have to ask whether Even and the others found them yet.”

Isa releases a tight breath. “I see. Thank you.”

“There’s no need to thank me when there is nothing I can do to help. In fact,” Ansem stops and turns to face Isa fully, with an even more miserable expression than before.

“I should apologize to you as well. Not only have I failed you as king of this world, but also as a teacher when I let myself be overpowered and had you and Lea become victims of Xehanort’s plan as well.”

Isa has half a mind to stop the man when he bows down to him deeply, but gets no chance as Ansem continues right away.

“I know I can never atone for the harm I have inadvertently inflicted upon you, but you still have my deepest, sincerest apologies.”

It’s terrible, how he feels. Humbled, for the most part. He understands Ansem’s plight all too well, if only on the basis of being deeply ashamed of his past actions as well. He coughs awkwardly.

“...There’s no need for that.”

Ansem slowly looks up at him, as he continues.

“We’ve all done things that we now regret. Things that ended up helping Xehanort, or at least not stopping him when we could’ve had the chance.” And how many plans and chances Saix had but never used, mostly out of cowardice.

“It would be useless to blame you when so many others, myself included, contributed to...everything. And if there were one person to blame, it would be Xehanort.”

Ansem regards him neutrally for an unnervingly long moment before he, surprisingly, chuckles kindly.

“I do suppose you are correct. Lea has told me just about the same thing when I tried to apologize to him. I am well aware that the best - the only way forward is to try and better myself in this chance at life, but still… Thank you.”

Isa replies with a light hum. They continue their walk in silence, he doesn’t even glance at Ansem, but he does walk almost next to him. It’s almost… companionable.

As they walk along, Isa notices a painting at the corner of an adjacent hallway. He looks down the path and it seems to go on endlessly just as any other hallway they’ve walked past, but something about it tugs on his memories, of racing down the same path even as he told Lea that they shouldn’t, because they wouldn’t want to be kicked out as soon as they managed to become apprentices in the first place.

_ “Ha! You’re just saying that because you know you’ll lose!” _

_ “Pff, you wish!” _

“Does that hallway lead to the library?”

“Hm?”, Ansem raises a curious eyebrow as he follows Isa’s gaze. “I believe so, yes. Why?”

Isa allows himself a small smile. “No reason.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what is a proper pacing, never heard of her.
> 
> the chapter was supposed to be the first half of chap 2 but it kinda went off rails and it was a good place to end as any so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ it still feels weird but what can ya do


End file.
